We are very happy to see A Doctor’s Term being part of the DevGAMM Awards Celebration Steam Event!

The ministry awaits you, as it celebrates with a 40% discount until Monday, Nov 10th 2025 8:30 AM CET.
Are you ready to step inside?

Take a look at the event here:

On Tuesday 2025-11-04 at 09:00 UTC, the Entropia Universe servers will be taken offline for a patch to release 19.1.1.

We estimate a downtime of 1 hour.

For details on UTC time please see

https://www.entropiauniverse.com/utc

Style and art direction are far more important than fidelity when it comes to how a game looks. Which is handy for me, because I have to make all the assets myself. I’m not saying Abject Abyss has outstanding art direction or anything, but I think it’s fair to say it has a ‘look’ that’s distinct from other similar titles. A look born out of limitations and compromises as much as my actual vision for the design.

Previous small projects I’ve made have leaned into the retro ‘haunted-ps1’ look, because it makes asset creation incredibly fast, and removes most optimisation concerns. I like that style and I still think its fun, but it’s not what I wanted for Abject Abyss. I wanted proper PBR materials, dynamic lights, and an actual graphics options menu.

But I didn’t want to aim for photoreal, or really anywhere close to that. The problem with making super high quality beautiful assets is that it takes a long time, and once you commit to that level of quality everything you make needs to match it. Soon you’d be forced into a situation where making even small set-dressing props becomes a whole effort.

What I settled on was somewhere in the middle, maybe a little closer to the lower end.

You’ll notice a lot of the objects in Abject Abyss are made from pretty basic shapes. The style of Luminary Corporation’s bulky tech allows for me to bash out new props relatively quickly, and also lends itself pretty well to the retro-future look I’m going for. The rooms are also all made out of modular pieces, walls, floor and ceiling panels, etc.

A modular workflow like that can work in all sorts of games, but it feels especially suitable for sci-fi interiors. Like the in-universe construction was modular too.

This kind of pipeline also allows for a kit-bash approach to level design and set dressing. For those who don’t know, kit-bashing is a term from physical model making for when you create something new using pieces from a variety of separate kits. In 3D, I could make a bespoke model for every situation, but I enjoy having a toolbox of little pieces I’ve made that can be re-combined in different ways. Instead of having one single prop for a generic computer terminal, I have computer building blocks I use to build each one slightly differently.

It’s another way to keep things varied while maintaining a consistent look. All the terminals have the same little heat-vents, the same little buttons and knobs, just laid out in a different way. In-universe, it makes it look like it’s all built from parts produced at the same factory.

Having everything scaled so it can snap nicely onto a grid means you can mix and match, which makes a smaller asset library go a lot further.

The big pitfall with this kind of design, is that different rooms and environments can start blending together. If everything looks the same it not only becomes boring, but it can be disorienting too. Some players might lost, even in very small spaces.

I’ve tried to combat this as best I can in Abject Abyss, with mixed success. Still, I’ve employed a few tactics that help.

Most simple is lighting. Obviously you want some areas well lit, some dim, and some very dark. But don’t forget about colour!

Plain white light is boring, and it can make even high quality assets look flat. I try to always have a little bit of colour in the light, and to vary the hue slightly between spaces. Even subtle colour changes can have a huge effect on atmosphere.

In important areas, I try to place the props and lights in a way that creates interesting shapes with shadows and reflections (to varying degrees of success). I’m not an expert at lighting by any means, but I’m working on it. If you compare the earliest builds of the demo to the current one, things have come a long way.

I’ve also tried to vary the room-style as the game progresses. Not on a level-to-level basis, but more that I want each ‘zone’ of the facility to have Its own look and feel.

Take the quarters, for example. They’re clean, shiny, and bright, with more curves in the construction than the rest of the base. In-universe, they were built much more recently than the other areas you explore, designed to look pleasant and appealing for marketing and recruitment purposes. You only spend a few moments in the quarters, but it provides a big contrast to the areas that follow.

A common problem in these types of small indie horrors is that everything tends to take place on a flat plane. It’s especially easy to fall into that when you’re mostly doing interiors and all your walls and floors snap to a grid.

I’ve tried to add little bits of variation and verticality throughout the game. I still think I could’ve pushed this a lot further, but if I keep going back and remaking levels, I’ll never finish the game.

I chose Abject Abyss’ visual style to allow me to create assets quickly and build out levels in-engine just as fast. Making a game is about finding compromises between your artistic vision and what you’re actually capable of making. But limitations aren’t the enemy of creativity. Limitations have led to some of my better ideas!

Abject Abyss’ visuals might not blow anyone away, but I think they are consistent in style and do the job well enough. I’m happy with that.

As mentioned in my previous X post about localization, starting with Japanese, Escape: Mall now features proper localization support!

• Proper Japanese localization

• Added player rank information on the leaderboard

• Added skip button for one of the ending scenes (QoL for RTA players)

• Simplified some rules and item descriptions to make them easier to understand

• Changed default screen mode to Borderless Window

More proper localization updates for the other languages will be coming soon!

Hi there,

more improvement for the game:

• Added a whole bunch of new reactions when using items

• Added two new interactions that give points, so the maximum score was increased by 10

• Fixed a bug where item description would keep showing even though the inventory is empty

• Fixed patient room image where it looked like the patients had no legs under the covers

• Fixed a description text when Holly looked at her own couch

• Fixed overlapping hotspots

• Fixed a bug where you could use an item too early before it makes sense

• Fixed more typos

That's all, have fun playing! :)

Tim

经过了9~11月的开发与优化，本游戏的二测版本将以公开demo试玩的方式上线steam，

（其实本来预定更早一些，但遇到了类似tag的游戏暂避一下锋芒，并再对前期体验加以打磨）

二测版本的更新包括：坐骑系统、体验优化、新增撤离点、武器与技能平衡(大多为增强)、额外的随从成长、成就系统、新的局外成长、调整了成长曲线的碾压机制、神秘商人、计谋系统（初步演示/正式解锁要到更后面的进度）、更多龙娘、前期地图的调整等等

（黄巾地图改成了两个难度的地图，普通难度的黄巾地图比一测更加简单、困难版本的则比一测版本更难，以及初始地图可以在低资产时重复进入。还加入了新的黄巾地图支线）

经过了9~11月的开发与优化，本游戏的二测版本将以公开demo试玩的方式上线steam，

（其实本来预定更早一些，但遇到了类似tag的游戏暂避一下锋芒，并再对前期体验加以打磨）

二测版本的更新包括：坐骑系统、体验优化、新增撤离点、武器与技能平衡(大多为增强)、额外的随从成长、成就系统、新的局外成长、调整了成长曲线的碾压机制、神秘商人、计谋系统（初步演示/正式解锁要到更后面的进度）、更多龙娘、前期地图的调整等等

（黄巾地图改成了两个难度的地图，普通难度的黄巾地图比一测更加简单、困难版本的则比一测版本更难，以及初始地图可以在低资产时重复进入。还加入了新的黄巾地图支线）

• Improve tutorial text.
  
• Fix some typos.
  
• Add better game play tutorial indication.
  
• Fix a potencial block error in the navigation map.

If you've played Sammy the Sharky, consider leaving a review! It means a lot

Sincerely Dan